Bryan Baker is one step closer to a rematch with Alexander Shlemenko and that elusive title shot.

Baker, a season-four tournament runner-up, was one of four fighters to advance to the semifinal round of Bellator Fighting Championships’ season-five middleweight tourney.

Baker scored a TKO victory over Jared Hess in the main event of Saturday’s Bellator 50 event, which took place at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.

The four opening-round tourney bouts comprised the MTV2-televised main card, which followed a preliminary card that streamed on Spike.com.

In addition to Baker and Shlemenko, Vitor Vianna and Brian Rogers also advanced to next month’s semifinals.

In the first round of the headliner, Baker escaped a very deep rear-naked choke. But, once back
on their feet and in stand-up exchanges, Hess, who had been sidelined by knee injuries until earlier this year, look fatigued and
wobbly on his feet.

Baker then locked on an anaconda choke and pulled
guard, but Hess survived and escaped before getting trapped in a similar
choke that was cut short by the end of the first round.

In the second, the fighters engaged in a sustained ground scramble that
included omoplata and triangle-choke attempts from Hess and a
rear-naked-choke effort from Baker. Hess escaped back to his feet, but
still wobbly on his feet, he got little behind his punches and was
easily taken down by Baker.

In the final round, Hess came out swinging, but Baker quickly wrapped
his hips and wrestled him to the mat. Baker then took back-mount position,
postured up, and rained down punches and elbows. Hess tried to defend,
but the mounting blows ultimately forced the referee’s intervention.

The stoppage came at the 2:52 mark of the final round.

“I’m looking to get my revenge match against Shlemenko,” said Baker, who’s among the final four now fighting for $100,000 in total pay and a guaranteed title shot with current champ Hector Lombard.

Baker (16-2 MMA, 6-1 BFC) has won three straight and 10 of his past 11. Hess (11-3-1 MMA, 4-3 BFC) has lost two of his past three.

Boos follow Rogers’ TKO win over O’Donnell

While the stoppage was debatable, Brian Rogers’ quick and heavy hands weren’t.

In the night’s co-headliner, Rogers continued his streak of TKO wins with a first-round stoppage victory over fellow Ohio fighter Victor O’Donnell.

After an initial feeling-out process, Rogers got low in stance, chipped away with punches, partially connected on a head kick, and then unloaded a stiff right to the chin that sent O’Donnell to the mat. Rogers unloaded a quick barrage of hammerfists as O’Donnell only partially covered up. With the fighter in a tough position and Rogers raining down punches, the ref opted to halt the fight.

The end came at the 1:56 mark of the round, though O’Donnell quickly protested, which prompted a cascade of boos.

“Victor O’Donnell is a tough dude form my state,” Rogers said over the boos. “I have a lot of respect for him. Stuff happens, but hey, Google me. I’ve got seven first-round knockouts. I drop bombs. All I do is fight.”

Knowing he wasn’t going to win over the crowd, Rogers decided to play up the heel role and gave Ohio State a shout-out ahead of their football game with Miami University. (You can imagine the reaction from the Florida crowd.)

Season-two tournament winner Alexander Shlemenko took his first step toward a second tourney championship with an impressive submission victory over DREAM veteran Zelg Galesic.

Although Shlemenko has earned 25 of his 41 career victories via knockout, the noted striker relied on his improving submission skills for his latest win.

After trading strikes with the taller and lankier fighter, Shlemenko scored an early takedown, delivered a body punch, but then ate a front kick to the face. He soon conceded the position and allowed Galesic to stand.

But after a subsequent clinch, the Russian latched on a front head lock, torqued a guillotine choke, trapped Galesic’s backside against the cage, and then lifted him off the mat to force a frantic tap-out.

The impressive ending came at the 1:55 mark of the opening frame.

“The most more important thing for me was to win,” Shlemenko said through a translator. “And before the submission, I landed a couple of good [punches].”

Shlemenko (41-7 MMA, 5-1 BFC) has just one defeat in his past 11 fights, and it came in a title fight with Lombard a year ago. Galesic (10-6 MMA, 0-1 BFC) falls to 1-3 over his past four fights.

Vianna edges Alvey via split decision

Vitor Vianna won the fight, but he didn’t win over the crowd.

In the night’s first televised fight, the Wand Fight Team fighter edged the ever-resilient and always-smiling Sam Alvey via split decision.

The first round was strictly a stand-up affair. Vianna was slow out of the gate, and Alvey took advantage with some effective looping punches and clinch work. In the second, though, Vianna finally got a takedown that took two minutes of work to secure. But Alvey used an armbar attempt to get back to his feet. Alvey was game once up, but Vianna found his range with nice hooks and short counter-punches that won him the round.

In what likely was a decisive final round, Alvey fended off takedown attempts with great balance from the clinch, put together some solid two-punch combinations, and was the more active fighter in the final 90 seconds of the fight. But Vianna’s aggression and surge in the final 10 seconds of the fight helped win over two of the three judges.

As the UFC 189 tour made its last stop in Dublin, featherweight champ Jose Aldo was met with a torrent of abuse from the Irish fans. It might have been unpleasant, but it might also have been just what he needed.